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| Bollywood actor, Mr. Aamir Hussain Khan. Photo by: NDTV Website |
As Indians are worried about the rise of
intolerance in the nation with the influence of the Hindhu nationalist party
BJP’s rule, a powerful image like Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan
has affected this controversial debate at the multi ethnic nation recently.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan on Monday, 23rd November joined the debate
against growing "intolerance", at Ramnath Goenka Excellence in
Journalism Awards function with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the
audience, saying that he has been "alarmed" by a number of incidents
& his wife Kiran Rao even suggested him that they should probably leave
India. This view of Aamir has made the headlines in all leading Indian &
world Media outlets with a growing powerful criticism at social media platforms
like Twitter & facebook against him. Actor Aamir Khan, under fire for his
remarks made in Delhi during a journalism awards ceremony on the growing
intolerance in the country, has released an official statement on Wednesday, 25th
November.
Following is the full text of Mr Aamir Khan's official statement:
First let me state categorically that neither I, nor my wife
Kiran, has any intention of leaving the country. We never did, and nor would we
like to in the future. Anyone implying the opposite has either not seen my
interview or is deliberately trying to distort what I have said. India is my
country, I love it, I feel fortunate for being born here, and this is where I
am staying.
Secondly, I stand by everything that I have said in my interview.
Secondly, I stand by everything that I have said in my interview.
To all
those people who are calling me anti-national, I would like to say that I am
proud to be Indian, and I do not need anyone's permission nor endorsement for
that.
To all the people shouting obscenities at me for speaking my heart out, it saddens me to say you are only proving my point.
To all the people who have stood by me, thank you. We have to protect what this beautiful and unique country of ours really stands for. We have to protect its integrity, diversity, inclusiveness, its many languages, its culture, its history, its tolerance, it's concept of ekantavada, its love, sensitivity and its emotional strength.
I would like to end my statement with a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, it's a prayer really:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, Where knowledge is free, Where the world has not been broken up into fragments, by narrow domestic walls, Where words come out from the depth of truth, Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way, Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit, Where the mind is led forward by thee, Into ever-widening thought and action, Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.
Jai Hind.
Aamir Khan.
To all the people shouting obscenities at me for speaking my heart out, it saddens me to say you are only proving my point.
To all the people who have stood by me, thank you. We have to protect what this beautiful and unique country of ours really stands for. We have to protect its integrity, diversity, inclusiveness, its many languages, its culture, its history, its tolerance, it's concept of ekantavada, its love, sensitivity and its emotional strength.
I would like to end my statement with a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, it's a prayer really:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, Where knowledge is free, Where the world has not been broken up into fragments, by narrow domestic walls, Where words come out from the depth of truth, Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way, Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit, Where the mind is led forward by thee, Into ever-widening thought and action, Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.
Jai Hind.
Aamir Khan.
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